Rule No. 1: Keep Water on the Outside
It was a pleasant run up from Roanoke Island to Norfolk. Across the Albemarle Sound, AQUAVIT was skipping over the calm waters at 24 kts until we got to the North River, when we had to slow down a bit. While on the Sound, we passed by Currituck and MacKay Island National Wildlife Refuges.
Then the winding channel of the North River turned into the man-made Albemarle-Chesapeake Canal. Bridges and a lock were a little challenging because the schedules were timed to be on the hour. We followed two large yachts through the low vertical clearance North Landing Bridge, Centerville Turnpike Bridge, and had to wait 45 minutes for the Great Bridge bridge to open. Then came the Great Bridge lock. We all passed together (like Papa Bear, Mama Bear, and us, Baby Bear, bringing up the rear) on the last openings before a 2-hour closing to allow commuter traffic to use the bridges unimpeded by openings. Then we were stopped by the #7 railroad bridge just before the 2-hour closing for the Gilmerton Bridge. Fortunately, it was 36' vertical clearance so we could go under. It took us 7.25 hours to travel 85 nautical miles, but that was because at least 1.5 hours was spent waiting on the bridges to open.
We were amazed to see the industrial development along the waterway increase as we got closer to Norfolk. We were sharing the waterway with tugs with barges and large merchant ships, which was more commercial traffic than we have ever experienced, even in Tampa Bay. All along the Elizabeth River, the shipyards, particularly the U.S. Navy shipyards, and container ship loading yards were massive and bustling around the clock.
Our marina at Waterside on the east side of the Elizabeth River was a very nice refuge from the busy waterways. This waterfront development has a host of restaurants, a paddlewheeler water taxi service to Portsmouth across the river and a ferris wheel! Joggers, skateboarders, locals, and tourists transited the waterfront park enjoying a calm, cool evening.
On the 14th, we departed Norfolk and planned to make it up to Smith Island, a working waterman community isolated in Chesapeake Bay. The weather forecast called for light southerly winds. All was going well, until, once out of the river and now on the Chesapeake Bay, the north wind and waves picked up. Although we were not shipping waves over the bow, Lee noticed water streaming across the cabin sole and sheeting down our forward bulkhead. Whenever there’s a little excitement, it’s always far out and away from shore. So bouncing in the swells, we looked for the closest place with a travel lift - just in case our leak was below the waterline and we would need to haul.
We headed to Cape Charles on the eastern shore of the Delmarva Peninsula. That was a 12 nm back track, but at least we were not pounding into the waves. Here we found the Cape Charles Town Marina and a nice small town in the process of reinventing itself through urban renewal. (It reminded us of a smaller Brunswick GA, even down to the railroad tracks between the waterfront and the town.)
The guy at the fuel dock who helped us tie up and pump diesel didn't even work at the marina. He runs the local dive operation and does boat repairs. But, he was too busy to take on our project, so he even called the adjacent boatyard. The owner of that boatyard visited us at the fuel dock to diagnose our mysterious leak and was as perplexed as we were in finding the source. But we did determine that the problem was not a threat to our hull's integrity, only the morale-sucking inconvenience of a deck leak.
Our bedding and duffle bags were soaked and water found its way into our forward storage lockers. Once in our slip, we dried out our bedding and stores and washed off the salt. We had to convert the dinette table to a bed because the forward bulkhead and lockers were too damp to cover with bedding. And we taped up the anchor locker hatch and the opening hatch over the bed just in case they might be the sources of the leaks.
There is always a silver lining to a dark cloud. Ours came when Lee was mopping the water off the cabin floor and stuck her hand into a remote corner between the companionway stairs and the settee. She felt things tucked up there and, using a flashlight, found her set of keys that had been missing since the start of the trip, along with a plastic hi-ball glass from the previous owner of the boat. Thinking the keys were in the car or the truck at home, we checked when we were last home, with no luck and had resigned ourselves to replacing some expensive electronic car keys when next in town.
Some nice folks in the adjacent slip, Clayton and Dorothy from the trawler Flight, and Kathy and David from a nearby sailboat, who had come to Cape Charles from Hampton Roads, commiserated with our situation and clued us in on a nice beach with spectacular sunsets, and the local places to eat. They were right - the sunset was beautiful. And the Bay that beat us up earlier was now calm, with waves lapping leisurely on the shore! The foursome were trying to fly kites on the beach, but couldn't get them to stay in the air!
Since our leak occurs when it’s a bit rougher, we decided to start out early tomorrow when the wind is calmer, moving all of the stuff up out of the path of the water.
6.13-14. 2018
Then the winding channel of the North River turned into the man-made Albemarle-Chesapeake Canal. Bridges and a lock were a little challenging because the schedules were timed to be on the hour. We followed two large yachts through the low vertical clearance North Landing Bridge, Centerville Turnpike Bridge, and had to wait 45 minutes for the Great Bridge bridge to open. Then came the Great Bridge lock. We all passed together (like Papa Bear, Mama Bear, and us, Baby Bear, bringing up the rear) on the last openings before a 2-hour closing to allow commuter traffic to use the bridges unimpeded by openings. Then we were stopped by the #7 railroad bridge just before the 2-hour closing for the Gilmerton Bridge. Fortunately, it was 36' vertical clearance so we could go under. It took us 7.25 hours to travel 85 nautical miles, but that was because at least 1.5 hours was spent waiting on the bridges to open.
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| Two bridges at Gilmerton - the RR bridge, normally open, was down since a train had just passed by . |
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| Dozens of Navy ships are in dry docks getting repairs. |
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| AQUAVIT in the center, from atop the ferris wheel. |
On the 14th, we departed Norfolk and planned to make it up to Smith Island, a working waterman community isolated in Chesapeake Bay. The weather forecast called for light southerly winds. All was going well, until, once out of the river and now on the Chesapeake Bay, the north wind and waves picked up. Although we were not shipping waves over the bow, Lee noticed water streaming across the cabin sole and sheeting down our forward bulkhead. Whenever there’s a little excitement, it’s always far out and away from shore. So bouncing in the swells, we looked for the closest place with a travel lift - just in case our leak was below the waterline and we would need to haul.
We headed to Cape Charles on the eastern shore of the Delmarva Peninsula. That was a 12 nm back track, but at least we were not pounding into the waves. Here we found the Cape Charles Town Marina and a nice small town in the process of reinventing itself through urban renewal. (It reminded us of a smaller Brunswick GA, even down to the railroad tracks between the waterfront and the town.)
The guy at the fuel dock who helped us tie up and pump diesel didn't even work at the marina. He runs the local dive operation and does boat repairs. But, he was too busy to take on our project, so he even called the adjacent boatyard. The owner of that boatyard visited us at the fuel dock to diagnose our mysterious leak and was as perplexed as we were in finding the source. But we did determine that the problem was not a threat to our hull's integrity, only the morale-sucking inconvenience of a deck leak.
Our bedding and duffle bags were soaked and water found its way into our forward storage lockers. Once in our slip, we dried out our bedding and stores and washed off the salt. We had to convert the dinette table to a bed because the forward bulkhead and lockers were too damp to cover with bedding. And we taped up the anchor locker hatch and the opening hatch over the bed just in case they might be the sources of the leaks.
There is always a silver lining to a dark cloud. Ours came when Lee was mopping the water off the cabin floor and stuck her hand into a remote corner between the companionway stairs and the settee. She felt things tucked up there and, using a flashlight, found her set of keys that had been missing since the start of the trip, along with a plastic hi-ball glass from the previous owner of the boat. Thinking the keys were in the car or the truck at home, we checked when we were last home, with no luck and had resigned ourselves to replacing some expensive electronic car keys when next in town.
Some nice folks in the adjacent slip, Clayton and Dorothy from the trawler Flight, and Kathy and David from a nearby sailboat, who had come to Cape Charles from Hampton Roads, commiserated with our situation and clued us in on a nice beach with spectacular sunsets, and the local places to eat. They were right - the sunset was beautiful. And the Bay that beat us up earlier was now calm, with waves lapping leisurely on the shore! The foursome were trying to fly kites on the beach, but couldn't get them to stay in the air!
Since our leak occurs when it’s a bit rougher, we decided to start out early tomorrow when the wind is calmer, moving all of the stuff up out of the path of the water.
6.13-14. 2018
Gripping post. Whew!
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